How Dentist Remove Wisdom Teeth
Wisdom teeth are the last pair of teeth to grow in a human beings’ mouth and are four in number. Two on the lower jaw and two on the upper jaw. They are situated at the very back of the mouth. Though the teeth are important, there comes a time when the need for their removal arises. The major reason for the removal of wisdom teeth is that they may be impacted (the teeth do not have not enough room to develop normally or emerge). Impacted teeth bring rise to certain problems including pain in the jaw, bleeding gums, bad breath, and swelling of the gum. They could also be impacted in that they are growing in an angle and not horizontally making it hard for them to get cleaned resulting in a decline in one’s oral hygiene. If not removed, they also cause damage to the adjacent healthy teeth.
The removal of wisdom teeth has a procedure followed and should be carried out by a qualified dentist. Below is the process prepared by https://runrex.com in which wisdom teeth are extracted. The procedure could take about thirty minutes.
First, an X-Ray is Taken
An x-ray of your mouth is first taken to determine what procedure will be carried out. The x-ray may include the whole mouth or just the area where the teeth have occupied. This is done a few days before the surgery. Six to twelve hours before your operation, you should not have eaten anything.
One Have to be Made Numb
On the day of extraction before the dentist proceeds, you are first to be made numb thus one does not feel pain during the procedure. Numbness should not last too long after the process is completed. The dentist can use a local sedative or general anesthetic. If more than one tooth is to be extracted, a general anesthetic is administered.
The gum tissue surrounding the tooth is opened up to make the tooth and bone accessible. In instances where the tooth has not come out of the gum, a small incision into the gum is done to allow for access to the tooth. If a piece of bone is found along the way, there is need to remove it.
Segmentation
Once the crown is fully visible, the dentist may need to cut (segment) the tooth to facilitate its easier removal. Segmentation is carried out because tooth extraction is more natural when the tooth is in pieces compared to when it is whole. Segmentation of a tooth depends on the following factors: the number of existing canals and the shape the roots of the tooth have. Tooth segmentation is done to separate the tooth from its ligament.
The Tooth is Rocked
The tooth is rocked sideways using either a pair of forceps or a dental elevator to ease its removal. Since the bone of the jaw is soft, the tooth rocking procedure compresses the bone slightly thus the tooth is removed without applying excessive force. The final removal is done using forceps. The tooth rocking results into the widening of the socket to facilitate easier removal of the tooth. Forceps are designed according to the shape of the tooth being extracted and the position of the tooth in a patient’s mouth.
Cleaning of the socket
Walls of the socket are then gently scraped to remove any residual infected or pathological tissue. It helps in the prevention of subsequent cyst formation. The socket is then washed with a saline solution to remove any remaining tooth fragments or loose bone. The process of cleansing the socket with a saline solution is known as irrigation.
The dentist then uses his or her finger to compress the sides of the expanded socket. Doing so helps to control bleeding and restores the shape of the jaw bone.
Stitching
Stitches are mostly placed when several teeth in a row have been removed. Some stitches are absorbed by the body thus no need for removal. These are the most widely used. For the non-absorbable stitches, the patient needs to go back to their dentist so that they are removed.
A cotton gauze is then placed over the extraction site, and the patient is asked to bite their jaws together for some time. It allows for the creation of firm pressure, and as a result, a blood clot is formed. It is done because blood clots are part of the healing process. One is advised to avoid excessive spitting to prevent excessive bleeding since it extricates the clot from the socket.
Wisdom teeth are not always removed if: they are healthy, they have grown into a regular shape or are correctly positioned, are easy to brush, and if they are not causing pain while still in the mouth. Only under these circumstances are they left undisturbed. To avoid extraction of your wisdom teeth, eat foods that will promote the development of the jaw bone thus there will be space to accommodate all thirty-two teeth.